Bag construction

ABSTRACT

A bag having front and rear walls of flexible sheet material with the rear wall extending above the upper edge of the front wall to provide a top flap, and a strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section clamped to the upwardly projecting top flap on the rear wall. The front flange portion of the U-shaped strap overlies the outer face of the front wall along its upper edge to releasably clamp the front wall to the rear wall of the bag and thereby releasably close the same. The front flange portion of the strap is notched intermediate its ends to facilitate opening of the bag and bending of the strap intermediate its ends to hold the bag in its open condition.

United States Patent [191 Mojonnier et al.

[ BAG CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventors: Albert E. Mojonnier, Chicago; Paul W. Lenke, Skokie, both of 111.

[73] Assignee: Albert Majonnier, lnc., Franklin 2,286,465 Clement 229/66 Feb. ll, 1-975 Primary ExaminerWil1iam l. Price Assistant ExaminerStephen P. Garbe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Morsbach & Pillote [57] ABSTRACT A bag having from and rear walls of flexible sheet material with the rear wall extending above the upper edge of the front wall to provide a top flap, and a strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section clamped to the upwardly projecting top flap on the rear wall. The front flange portion of the U-shaped strap overlies the outer face of the front wall along its upper edge to releasably clamp the front wall to the rear wall of the bag and thereby releasably close the same. The front flange portion of the strap is notched intermediate its ends to facilitate opening of the bag and bending of the strap intermediate its ends to hold the bag in its open condition.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 BAG CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is sometimes desirable to provide a flexible bag construction which is closed and effectively sealed at the time of manufacture to maintain the bag in a sanitary condition, and which can thereafter be opened for introduction of material into the bag and subsequently reclosed to seal the material in the bag. A bag construction for this purpose is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,13l to Mead wherein the bag is initially closed by heat sealing its upper end and the bag then opened by tearing along a line of perforations below the heat seal. Tie wires are attached to the bag below the tear line to facilitate opening and subsequent reclosing of the bag after the material is introduced into the bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a reclosable bag of the type having a deformable tie strap on its upper end. The tie strap has an improved construction which facilitates attachment of the tie strap to the bag without the use of adhesives. The tie strap is also constructed and arranged to initially clamp opposed walls of the bag together at the top to close the bag and maintain it in a sanitary condition until use, and the tie strap and bag are arranged so that one wall of the bag can be readily withdrawn from the tie strap to open the bag. The tie strap is advantageously formed to control longitudinal bending to facilitate opening and filling of the bag, and the tie strap can thereafter be manipulated to effect reclosing of the bag and resealing by rolling the upper end of the bag upon itself. The bag and tie strap can be economically fabricated and assembled to provide an economical bag construction.

The bag is formed of flexible material having front and rear walls and the rear wall projects above the front wall and has a deformable metal strap of U-shaped cross section clamped to the upwardly projecting portion of the rear wall and to the upper edge of the front wall to both permanently secure the tie strap to the rear wall of the bag and releasably clamp the front wall of the bag to the rear wall to hold the same in its closed condition. The clamped upper edge of the front wall of the bag can be readily withdrawn from under the U- shaped strap, and the bag then opened for introduction of material. One flange portion of the U-shaped strap is notched to facilitate flexing of the strap intermediate its ends during opening ofthe bag. A pull tab can be applied to the front wall of the bag to facilitate withdrawing the same from under the U-shaped strap and opening of the bag. The bag can be reclosed by flexing the tie strap back to planar condition and rolling the upper end of the bag upon itself. Foldable locking tabs are provided at the outer ends of the strap to hold the bag in its closed condition.

These, together with other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view ofa bag construction in accordance with the present invention, and showing the same in an initially closed position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentarysectional view taken on the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the parts on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the bag in an opened condition;

HO. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the bag illustrating the same after it has been reclosed; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing parts on an enlarged scale.

The bag is formed of flexible sheet material and may, for example, be formed of thin plastic such as polyethylene. The bag has opposed side walls, herein sometimes referred to as the front and rear walls designated 10 and 11, and which walls are connected together along their sides s and bottom b, and which are unconnected at their upper ends to provide an open top. The bag can be formed of a single sheet which is folded upon itself to form the bottom edge b, and which is then joined as byheat sealing along a seam line 13 at each side s. Alternatively, the bag can be formed of two separate sheets which are joined as by heat sealing along the sides and bottom, or from tubular stock which requires only a bottom seam.

The wall ll. herein designated as the rear wall, extends upwardly from the upper edge [0a of the front wall 10 to provide an integral top flap lla along the upper edge of the rear wall. A tie strap 15 formed of a deformable metal such as aluminum, soft iron, etc. is formed'with a U-shaped cross section to provide a rear flange portion 15a and a front flange portion 15b. The rear flange portion of the strap overlies the outer side of the top flap 11a of the rear wall 11 and the front flange portion 15b of the strap overlies the front side of the top flap 11a and also overlies the front wall 10 of the bag along the upper edge 10a thereof, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The U-s'naped tie strap is affixed to the bag by pressing the flanges 15a and 15 together and into clamping engagement with the upper portions of the bag disposed therebetween so as to permanently secure the strap to the top flap portion 11a. The depth of the U-shaped strap, however, is made only slightly greater than the height of the top flap portion on the rear wall and such as to clampingly engage only a relatively narrow band along the upper edge of the front wall and sufficient to releasably clamp the front wall against the rear wall and thereby releasably close and seal the bag. The front wall of the bag, however, can be withdrawn from below the front flange portion of the strap by drawing the front wall downwardly and outwardly. This can be achieved by grasping the front and rear walls of the bag respectively between the thumb and forefinger and then moving the thumb downwardly relative to the forefinger to pull the front wall of the bag out from below the front flange 15b of the strap. Preferably, a pull tab 18 is attached to or formed integrally with the front wall adjacent its upper edge to facilitate withdawing of the front wall from below the front flange of the strap and also opening of the bag. The pull tab 18 may, for example, comprise a strip of adhesive covered paper or the like having one end portion 18a adhesively secured to the front wall of the bag and a tab portion 18b folded upon itself to provide a finger grip portion for opening ofthe bag.

In order to facilitate opening of the bag, one of the flange portions of the strap, and preferably the front flange portion 15b. is notched or cut away as indicated at [50 throughout the height of the flange portion as best shown in FIGS. l and 3 so as to separate the front flange portion into separate endwise aligned sections designated b and 15b". The notch in the flange por-' tion enhances the flexibility of the strap at that location and facilitates bending of the strap intermediate its ends as shown in FIG. 3 to hold the bag in an open con-' dition for reception of material.

The tie strap 15 has end sections 15d which extend outwardly from the side edges of the bag to provide foldable locking tabs. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bag can be reclosed by folding the upper edge of the bag downwardly upon itself one or more times, and by thereafter bending the locking tabs 15d inwardly to hold the folded top in a closed condition.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction and use of the bag will be readily understood. The bag itself can be economically formed from sheet or tubular plastic material and the tie strap 15 thereafter applied to the top of the bag by pressing the flange portions 150 and 15b into clamping engagement with the top flap 11a and the upper portion of the front wall to simultaneously secure the tie strap to the top flap portion 11a on the rear wall while clamping the upper edge of the front wall to the rear wall to releasably close the bag. Thus, the bag is closed and effectively sealed when it is initially formed to maintain the bag in a sterile or sanitary condition. The front wall of the bag has its upper edge releasably clamped to the rear wall of the bag by the strap and the front wall can be moved to an open condition either by pulling on the tab 18 or by manipulating the front and rear walls between the fingers as previously described. The U-shaped strap provides a double thickness except at the central notch 15c and at the end tabs 15d so that the strap is relatively weaker intermediate its ends to facilitate bending as shown in FIG. 3 to hold the bag in an open condition during filling. After the bag is filled, the strap can be restraightened to close the bag and the bag thereafter rescaled by rolling the upper end of the bag upon itself and then folding of the tabs 15d.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A reclosable bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexible sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and open at the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on said rear wall extending a selected height above the top edge of the front wall, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having a front and rear flange portion respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion on the rear wall and clamping the top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag, said front flange portion extending downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlying the outer face of said front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp said upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag whereby the front wall of the bag can be withdrawn from beneath the front flange portion of the strap to open the bag without releasing the front and rear flange portions of the strap from clamping engagement with the rear flap.

2. A reclosable bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexible sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and openat the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on said rear wall extending a selected height above the top edge ,of the front wall, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having a front and rear flange-portion respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion on the rear wall and clamping the top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag, said front flange portion extending downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlying the outer face of said front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp said upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag, one of said flange portions on said strap having a notch intermediate its ends to facilitate bending of the strap intermediate its ends for holding the top of the bag an open condition.

3. A bag construction according to claim 2 including means providing a pull tab on said front wall adjacent the top of the bag and intermediate its ends to facilitate pulling of the upper edge of the front wall from behind said front flange of the strap.

4. A bag construction according to claim 2 wherein said notch is in said front flange portion.

5. A bag construction according to claim 4 including means providing a pull tab on said front wall adjacent the top of the bag and intermediate its ends to facilitate pulling of the upper edge of the front wall from behind said front flange of the strap.

6. A bag construction according to claim 5 wherein said rear flange portion of said strap extends outwardly from the side edges of the bag to provide foldable locking tabs.

7. A bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexible sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and open at the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on the rear wall extending above the top edge of the front wall a selected height, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having front and rear flange portions respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion and clamping said top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag,one of said flange portions of the strap including two endwise aligned sections connected along their top edge to the other flange portion and having their adjacent ends spaced apart to facilitate flexing of the strap intermediate its ends during opening of the top of the bag, one of said flange portions of said strap having end portions extending outwardly from the side edge of the bag to provide foldable locking tabs.

8. A bag construction according to claim 7 wherein said two endwise aligned sections are in said front flange portion of the strap.

9. A bag construction according to claim 8 wherein said front flange portion of said strap extends downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlies the outer face of the front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp the upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag. 

1. A reclosable bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexible sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and open at the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on said rear wall extending a selected height above the top edge of the front wall, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having a front and rear flange portion respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion on the rear wall and clamping the top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag, said front flange portion extending downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlying the outer face of said front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp said upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag whereby the front wall of the bag can be withdrawn from beneath the front flange portion of the strap to open the bag without releasing the front and rear flange portions of the strap from clamping engagement with the rear flap.
 2. A reclosable bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexIble sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and open at the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on said rear wall extending a selected height above the top edge of the front wall, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having a front and rear flange portion respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion on the rear wall and clamping the top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag, said front flange portion extending downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlying the outer face of said front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp said upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag, one of said flange portions on said strap having a notch intermediate its ends to facilitate bending of the strap intermediate its ends for holding the top of the bag an open condition.
 3. A bag construction according to claim 2 including means providing a pull tab on said front wall adjacent the top of the bag and intermediate its ends to facilitate pulling of the upper edge of the front wall from behind said front flange of the strap.
 4. A bag construction according to claim 2 wherein said notch is in said front flange portion.
 5. A bag construction according to claim 4 including means providing a pull tab on said front wall adjacent the top of the bag and intermediate its ends to facilitate pulling of the upper edge of the front wall from behind said front flange of the strap.
 6. A bag construction according to claim 5 wherein said rear flange portion of said strap extends outwardly from the side edges of the bag to provide foldable locking tabs.
 7. A bag construction comprising: front and rear walls of flexible sheet material connected at the side edges and at the bottom and open at the top, the rear wall being longer than the front wall to provide a top flap portion on the rear wall extending above the top edge of the front wall a selected height, and an elongated strap of ductile metal having a U-shaped cross section along at least a major portion of its length, said U-shaped strap having front and rear flange portions respectively overlying the inner and outer faces of said top flap portion and clamping said top flap portion therebetween to attach the strap to the bag, one of said flange portions of the strap including two endwise aligned sections connected along their top edge to the other flange portion and having their adjacent ends spaced apart to facilitate flexing of the strap intermediate its ends during opening of the top of the bag, one of said flange portions of said strap having end portions extending outwardly from the side edge of the bag to provide foldable locking tabs.
 8. A bag construction according to claim 7 wherein said two endwise aligned sections are in said front flange portion of the strap.
 9. A bag construction according to claim 8 wherein said front flange portion of said strap extends downwardly from the upper edge of said top flap portion a distance slightly greater than said selected height of the top flap portion and overlies the outer face of the front wall along the upper edge thereof to releasably clamp the upper edge of the front wall to said rear wall and thereby releasably close the top of the bag. 